Should You Wait for Haswell Processors to Upgrade Your PC?

My sister is planning to get the Cintiq 24HD Touch, and she is planning to use it as her primary monitor; she is also planning to upgrade her PC. Here are my two questions:

Would you recommend Windows 8 for this particular monitor?
Should she just wait for the new Haswell technology before upgrading her PC?

The Cintiq 24HD Touch is a pricey monitor designed for serious professional use. I’m assuming that your friend is an artist or someone who works regularly with graphics where a pen-enabled monitor would home in handy. The thing that makes it interesting for Windows 8 is its multi-touch support. This would make it a good fit, as long as the manufacturer has drivers in place to support it.

According to the Wacom site: The Cintiq 24HD is Windows 8 ready. Using this monitor with Windows 8 shouldn’t be a problem at all. Would I recommend Windows 8? Possibly, if she wants to actually put the multi-touch capabilities of that screen to good use. Windows 7 and other previous versions have always struggled with being touch capable. Windows 8 is the first version of the OS that really appears to have been built from the ground up with touch in mind, although the experience itself isn’t for everyone.

Haswell processors look very impressive on paper, but I wouldn’t recommend holding off for an undisclosed amount of time for something if you need a new computer right away. It comes down to how soon your friend wants the new hardware. Current processors aren’t sluggish by any means, and there is bound to be something even more impressive than Haswell on the drawing boards at Intel, AMD, and others already.

Does your friend feel comfortable waiting five, six, or possibly more months for what might be a slight bump in performance? Are they working on tasks that would tax a current-generation processor to its limits?

Normal users shouldn’t upgrade their PCs unless there is a clear need for the upgrade. If your friend is a professional who demands a lot out of their hardware and their current system is causing issues with productivity, then absolutely upgrade as soon as you can with something that will likely fulfill their needs for at least two years. If a five or six month delay in the upgrade won’t hurt her bottom line, then a Haswell-based system could very well offer a little more longevity and some extra power to the new system.

You have JavaScript disabled, or you're blocking advertisements and safe scripts on LockerGnome.com. As such, you will not be able to subscribe to the LockerGnome newsletter until you refresh this page and allow the scripts to run.